Archive

We’re excited to announce the newest member of the TLC Marketing family, Chris Kula.

Chris is a seasoned marketing professional with over 8 years experience working with some of the best known and most respected brands and agencies in our industry.

He started his career at News America Marketing, spending two years incorporating News America’s home delivered, in store and online marketing solutions into his clients’ promotional plans. Later, while working on his MBA he joined then start up PromoAid, where he built the largest partnership platform of below the line marketing service providers in the industry. A few promotions later, Chris was managing day to day operations and directing Client Services where he worked with over 20 of the largest and most respected agencies in the industry assisting them in their promotional planning.

Here in the US, after enduring one of the coldest winters, it seems that consumers are looking to travel, shop, dine out and drink more than ever this summer.

Demand for premium travel in particular is high, with a total of $61 billion predicted to be spent on travel this summer through online travel bookings, a 15% growth from last year.* Out of these, it seems airline bookings are growing the fastest, with a 28% year-over-year growth, the most desirable destinations being London, Paris, Rome, Orlando and New York.*

This year is the 50th anniversary of the biggest Sporting event in the US- the Super Bowl! The NFL has unveiled a year-long ‘Gold Marketing’ initiative, involving current and past players, coaches and multi- platform marketing support from the NFL and its partners. This 50th celebration is the perfect opportunity to get thinking about how you can design an award winning promotion.

This season the theme is all things Gold, with a gold Super Bowl logo on the field all season long, as well as incorporated into various promotions, uniforms and the sideline apparel from Nike and New Era.

It’s a no- brainer. Hispanics are renowned for their love of family, connecting, and forming relationships. TLC Marketing specializes in promotions that encourage emotional connection through ‘experiences’; a perfect alignment.

‘Hispanic’, as a description, refers to an origin or ethnicity, not a race. Hispanic brand awareness, consumption patterns and usage levels are often dramatically different to the general market. TLC knows that Marketers are unable to simply transfer their efforts directly to Hispanics in the US because of historical, contextual, cultural, demographic and financial factors. Every campaign is specifically designed around the demographic, delivering memorable and emotional rewards they love.

At TLC Marketing we understand the value of experiences. We see first-hand the long term emotional connection they encourage, and we also understand the science behind the success.

An article by Fast Company Exist explores the psychology of the long term effects experiences have, drawing from research of Dr. Thomas Gilovich, a psychology professor at Cornell University. His studies around the happiness economics of the Easterlin Paradox, find that money does buy happiness, but only up to a point.* When we begin to adapt to the purchase and it is no longer new and exciting, from this point, experiences are the key to happiness.

Back To School. A time when coupons and dollar-off promotions reign king. You only have to step foot into the supermarket to see brands devaluing themselves with half-price backpacks, drink bottles, school stationary or 2 for 1 lunchbox snacks. Clothing retailers often fall victim to price cutting and bundling too, by discounting school shoes, apparel and accessories.

There is a proven way to stand out on the supermarket shelves while simultaneously adding value. Offer something amazing, something fun; experiences that are exciting to your demographic. TLC Marketing creates emotional connections between brands and their customers by delivering the most engaging rewards and experiences, tailored to each demographic.

Last year saw a decline in spending over the Thanksgiving weekend with the average shopper spending an estimated $309.95 - a 6.4% drop from the previous year. *** This drop in 2014 spending raises competition amongst brands and retailers this year; it is going to be a very competitive season, with emphasis on new and innovative ways to attract consumers.

Consumer consensus was that sales promotions last Thanksgiving and Black Friday were ‘nothing new’ compared to others throughout the year. Consumers were unmoved by the retailers’ aggressive discounts and extended Thanksgiving store hours; “I wasn’t lured by any new or exciting promotions.” ***

With the recent release of the Apple Watch, there’s a whole lot of buzz surrounding wearables and fitness watches. The market revolution for these devices is growing five times faster than that of the smart phone* - this trend is undoubtedly huge. It is expected that 180 million wearables will be sold in 2018, a drastic increase from the 50 million units that buyers are expected to snap up this year*5

This summer period, when your customers are looking to get active and feel good, and when your competitors are offering uninspiring promotions, incentives or rewards, consider incorporating fitness wearables into your strategy. For marketers and marketing strategies, especially those within the health and fitness industry, using fitness wearables can create a compelling value-adding promotion that can also be incorporated with a variety of TLC Marketing health and wellness rewards.

“It’s not about the customer being loyal to you, but you being loyal to the customer.”

We've heard it before, but what does it actually mean for you to be loyal to your customers? Brands know the importance of CRM and retention, however in too many cases, are only looking at loyalty from one perspective: How do we incentivize customers to come back? Will our customers re-purchase if we offer them more and charge less?

Have you considered the importance of you as a brand being loyal to your customers? Are you there when they need you, your advice and information? How do you show appreciation? Consumers have increased expectations and need emotional engagement. Connection, meaning, and differentiation is still everything.* Show that you are loyal to your customers and that your brand is dedicated, reliable and devoted to them. In today’s world, the best way to keep your customers is to be essential to them. Add value to their life and position your brand as a personality rather than a corporation.

Columbus Day, one of the oldest US holidays, has since been associated with new discoveries and celebrations. Not only celebrated by citizens, but also major retailers who offer incredible sales throughout the country.

Columbus Day is one of the best days of the year for consumers when it comes to finding great deals to refurbish their wardrobe, refurnish the apartment or discover new technology and electronics. Unsurprisingly, consumers have a willingness to explore new products and be surprised by brands. But why is Columbus Day such an important day for promotions?

Last week was Bring Your Kids to Work Day here in the New York office and we were impressed at the creative ideas these superstars had for us!

Our Creative Director led a brainstorming session, which resulted in some hilarious reward concepts, including Free Deodorant and Zoo Pass when you buy a copy of “Minion Rush."

Our Sales and Marketing Director was fired multiple times for his paper plane efforts but re-hired when the pizza was delivered for lunch.

We believe it’s important for kids to be exposed to positive work environments and communities. It encourages team work, instills pride from seeing parents achieve, and importantly introduces them to inspiring role models who value hard work and success.

Halloween is the second largest commercial holiday, second only to Christmas. In 2014, $2.5 billion was spent on Halloween costumes alone. Candies, decorations and cards all amounted to a $6.9 billion spend*, an amount predicted to increase substantially in 2015. This is great news for your typical Halloween offerings, but what can other industries and brands do to get involved in the festivities?

As Ikea, ASOS, Target and Babybel all showed us in their innovative campaigns: Every brand, no matter the offering, has the ability to leverage the Halloween hype. Here are our tips on how;

1. Use Halloween as a chance to treat (not trick) every single one of your customers.

Insurance companies are in a unique but opportunistic position when it comes to marketing. They are unique in the way that their offerings are intangible, and for that reason, a majority of consumers consider insurance a grudge purchase. No matter if it’s car, income protection, life, or even pet insurance, no one really looks forward to or enjoys spending money on insurance, especially if you see nothing in return.

These characteristics encourage insurers to focus heavily on CRM and loyalty, with many attempting to offer more for less and to engage with loyalty platforms. In the U.S specifically, many are taking a customer-centric approach to ensure the customer experience is seamless, both at the point of purchase and beyond. There is an increase in focus on big data to enhance personalization not only of the product offered, but also of the associated rewards and incentives.

After 10 years of digital innovation in Dubai, working for the likes of Saatchi & Saatchi and Tribal Worldwide, Steadman has handpicked an exciting opportunity within TLC Marketing team. He will be responsible for leading digital transformation within the business and executing best in class work for TLC’s global clients.

“It’s hard not to notice that the world is changing fast & that the companies that thrive have built or rebuilt themselves for the modern age; TLC embraces this change-culture and I’m really excited about joining and leading the digital charge...” Major Steadman.

Nick True, chairman commented on our new addition, “TLC Marketing’s really excited to welcome Major to the team; 99% of our campaigns have a level of digital activation – we’re delighted to have Major lead our client’s digital innovation, development & delivery.”

TLC Marketing is the world’s leading added-value agency. TLC has over 20 years’ experience in delivering successful campaigns ranging from loyalty platforms to consumer incentives by using intelligence from 13 international offices as part of the TLC Marketing Worldwide.